EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE
Hard Work, Dedication, and Investment
Aaron W. Johnson, MEM-2783
awj@aipg.org
Temperatures finally are rising in Colorado, and a hint of
spring is in the air. Warmer weather means more time out- side and, for me, car show season is right around the corner. Car show season is an important part of my life because, in addition to being a geologist, I am a car guy. My first car was a 1963 Ford Falcon Futura convertible. I bought it in April of 1981, before I was old enough to drive. It needed plenty of work. The brakes were spongy. The floorboards were rotten. The convertible top was torn. It leaked transmission fluid, and oil, and water. In fact, the only fluid it didn’t leak was grease from the differential. I spent two years working on Betty, as she would come to be known. Five days after I turned 16, I got her licensed, and took her for a drive. I still have Betty. She sits in my garage, and on sunny mountain days, my family and I take her to car shows, or out for ice cream, or for a drive in the mountains. Betty represents hard work, and sacrifice, and dedication, and the satisfaction that comes from investing yourself fully into a project.
When I take Betty to a car show, she draws a crowd. Almost everyone has a story about a Falcon. For some, it was their family car. For others it was Grandma’s car. For a few, as it was for me, a Falcon was their first car. From 1960 through 1965, Ford manufactured and sold about 2.3 million Falcons. In 1965, Falcon sales hit an all-time low of just 225,000 units.
The reason: the new Ford Mustang was similar in size and price and was a direct competitor to the Falcon. The Mustang was developed by Lee Iacocca, who had used the Falcon platform as the basis for the Mustang. Today, most car enthusiasts recog- nize that without the Falcon, the Mustang would not have been possible. More importantly, without the vision and leadership of Lee Iacocca, the Mustang would never have existed.
Lee Iacocca was an automotive visionary, shrewd marketer,
and an excellent leader. Iacocca rose from an entry level posi- tion in engineering to Vice-President and General Manager of the Ford Division in a mere 14 years. He oversaw the devel- opment of the Mustang, the Pinto, and the Ford Escort and pitched the concept of the minivan to Ford before his move to Chrysler. Iacocca reversed the fortunes of Chrysler and introduced the mini-van to soccer parents across the United States. After his retirement, Iacocca authored several books, one of which, Where Have All the Leaders Gone, outlines the qualities that he believed good leaders should possess: curios- ity, creativity, communication, character, courage, conviction, charisma, competence, and common sense.
In this issue of The Professional Geologist, you’ll find profiles of the nominees for election to national office. These nominees continue a strong tradition of excellent leadership at the national level. During my time with AIPG, I’ve been fortunate to work alongside excellent leaders that consistently exhibit the traits that excellent leaders possess. Their hard work, dedication, and invest- ment of time and energy are one of the primary reasons that AIPG continues to be recognized among the leading U.S. geoscience organizations. Please take the time to read through the candidate profiles and vote for the candidates that you want to lead AIPG forward in the coming year. Their vision for the future combined with the support and hard work of the National Office staff will ensure that AIPG continues to be a strong voice for geoscientists throughout the United States and abroad.
I hope to see many of you at the AIPG Annual Meeting in Burlington, Vermont, in September. I wish each of you a safe, productive, and warm spring.
Best Regards,
Betty at the Flex Your Muscle car show in King’s Valley, Colorado. The small trophy on the convertible top boot is the People’s Choice Award, voted on by the show attendees.
34 TPG •
Apr.May.Jun 2019 Aaron
www.aipg.org
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